What It Means to Be “Best for the Environment”

Last week, on Earth Day, WasteZero was named to the 2014 B Corp “Best for the Environment” list. That’s an exciting honor, for sure—it only goes to the companies with an “environmental impact score” in the top 10% of all certified B Corps (already a high-performing bunch). In fact, WasteZero scored 43 for environmental impact, while the average score is just 9.

But while we love (love-love-love) being able to talk about the environment on Earth Day, we’re also pretty pumped to do it on the other 364 days of the year. Because the good things that pay-as-you-throw does to protect our air, water, and soil don’t end when the sun sets on April 22.

Consider these figures that show what pay-as-you-throw could do to help the planet over the course of a year:

If every town and city in Massachusetts adopted pay-as-you-throw, they’d be projected to cut carbon dioxide emissions annually by 1.5 million metric tons. According to the EPA, that’s the equivalent of taking 327,000 cars off the road—every year.

If all of Rhode Island went pay-as-you-throw, CO2 emissions would drop by a projected 335,000 metric tons per year. In terms of greenhouse gas emissions, that much carbon dioxide is the equivalent of the energy used by around 30,000 homes—which happens to be almost exactly half the number of homes in Providence, the state’s largest city.

State-wide pay-as-you-throw in Pennsylvania? Projections say that would conserve 29 million BTUs of energy usage per year—the equivalent of the energy produced by 4 million rooftop solar arrays in a year.

The exhaust from 327,000 cars. The energy that powers 30,000 homes. 4 million rooftop solar arrays. Pay-as-you-throw has the power to make deep and lasting positive changes to the environment—on Earth Day, and every day.

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